He’s back.
Frank Reich has long been considered one of the “good guys” around the NFL—someone head coaches love to have on staff, and owners appreciate speaking with. His time as both a quarterback and play-caller has been marked by plenty of success as well.
Much of that success, though, happened a while back at this point.
Reich last coached in the NFL during the 2023 season, when he was fired by the Carolina Panthers in the middle of the year after a one-win run. It was the second consecutive year he was fired in-season.
After a year off, Reich became the head coach at Stanford in 2025, a personal favor to Andrew Luck. His short hiatus from the professional game ended when he was hired by Jets head coach Aaron Glenn to run the offense.
And as he prepares for his return to the game, Reich knows he still has plenty to give.
Reich’s return to NFL
Reich’s final year in Carolina was a nightmare. Not only were the Panthers 1-10, but Reich’s offense was dead last in the league in total yards and passing yards.
No one would have blamed Reich for simply retiring from the game for good after his chapter in Carolina was over. But his time at Stanford gave the old quarterback the kind of fire needed to continue.
“Stanford kind of re-energized me for coaching,” Reich said. “It just reminded me of my love for the game, for the sport, for the purity of just coaching, being out on the field with the guys.”
Reich got the passion back to coach in the NFL. But picking his next stop wasn’t an easy choice.
By the time the calls started ringing, though, there was only one place that made sense to him: New York, with a former teammate in Aaron Glenn.
“As soon as AG called, I knew right away this was something I wanted to do,” he said. “Mainly because of him, but also because of the challenge and the opportunity to be a part of a staff and be a part of a team and organization that has an opportunity to do something special and turn something around.”
Glenn and Reich were teammates on the Jets during the 1996 season. Their relationship remains as strong as ever, even if there are questions about whether either coach has enough in the tank to fix the failed franchise.
Jets’ losing history
Reich is 64 years old. He played in the NFL for 13 seasons and coached for the last 20.
Why exactly would Reich want to sign up for the level of struggles that have been a staple of the Jets organization over the last decade?
In the end, it’s those struggles that intrigued the offensive play-caller the most.
“Those are the things that, maybe I’m a little backward, but that’s actually what attracts me,” Reich said. “How to figure it out. Take what looks on the surface like a difficult situation and figure out how to get it done, knowing that it can get done.”
Reich’s comments mirror those of future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees when he first signed with the New Orleans Saints. At the time, the Saints went 3-13, and the town was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. Brees has openly talked about a free agent visit through the ravaged city as a big reason for wanting to come to New Orleans.
“What most people might see as devastation and ‘Hey, I want no part of this,’ I think we saw as an opportunity and a challenge,” said Brees.
He wanted to be part of the solution for the Saints. He ended up being the greatest player in Saints history, with a Super Bowl title to boot.
As a former quarterback, Reich shares Brees’s mindset. He wants to be the guy, or part of the group, that finally brings success to the Jets offense (and the team as a whole). He has plenty of assets at his disposal to make it happen.
But for a team that has just one winning season in the last 15 years, the work is still cut out for a veteran coach like Reich. The hope is that the veteran coach’s latest stint will be more like his stints in San Diego, Philadelphia, and Indianapolis than his stint in Carolina.
